


BV 

4-501 



ANSlM©W HE TRi^fl^s 



LIBRARY OF CONGRESS. 



UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. 



The Spiritual Athlete. 



I The Library | 

' OF CONGR23S 
I WASHINGTON 



The Spiritual Athlete 



AND 



HOW HE TRAINS 



BY 



/ 

W. A. BODELL, A. B. 



FLEMING H. REVELL COMPANY ^^ LJ \y 

NEW YORK I CHICAobv / < '^ ^y /\ 

30 Union Square, East | 148-150 Madison St. 

Publishers Evangelical Literature 



3V^ 



SOI 



Entered according to Act of Congress in the year Eighteen 
Hundred and Ninety-two, by 

Fleming H. Revell Company, 

In the office of the Librarian of Congress, Washington, D. C. 



INTRODUCTION. 

I have been exceedingly interested in look- 
ing through the advance sheets of this little 
book. 

The great need of the church and the world 
to-day is what has always been the need since 
the beginning — men of God. The spiritually 
strong man is born, not made. The source of 
his strength is his direct connection with 
the Source of all strength. He is not strong 
because he tries to be, but because he cannot 
help it. The seci-et of spiritual vigor and 
efficiency is in being in all things like unto 
Christ, who Was able to say, *My meat is to 
do the will of Him that sent me. * 

I remember some years ago hearing a recent 
convert say that he had not understood what 
Paul meant when he said he "kept under his 
body.^' He did not comprehend how he could 
get under his body, but, he said, as he had 
grown in the knowledge of God, he had come 
to realize that what Paul meant wa^, that he 
kept his body under him. 



INTRODUCTION 



The man whose thoughts and feelings and 
purposes are all born of God is the strong man, 
and the only man who ever is strong. For 
His workmen God has, as our brother says, 
prepared food; and he must have vigorous 
daily exercise. To neglect either will be to 
grow weak and worthless, or to perish. "The 
eyes of the Lord run to and fro throughout 
the whole earth to show Himself strong in 
behalf of them whose heart is perfect toward 
Him." 

That the stirring words of our brother in 
this little treatise may have many readers, 
and that those who read may be led thereby 
into the secret of Him, who said, "Thy God 
hath commanded thy strength," is the sincere 
prayer of 

His Friend, 

B. Fay Mills. 



PREFACE. 

To be strong physically is commendable, to 
be strong socially is desirable, to be strong 
intellectually is valuable, but to be strong 
spiritually is inestimable. 

This little volume was not written for the 
gratification of the author but for the edifica- 
tion of the reader; if the reader by it be ed- 
ified, then surely the author of it will be grat- 
ified. 

The great need of Christians is not so much 
to know more as to do more. Not always 
those who know the most do the most; some 
know much and do little. Others know little 
and do much. This humble effort was in- 
tended that you should not only know more 
but that you might also do more. That coin 
which is not put into circulation is worthless; 
that talent which is not put to use is useless. 

To see so many Christians who are educated 
and so few who are consecrated is lamentable; 
if they were no less educated but far more 
consecrated it would be far preferable. The 

5 



6 PREFACE 

cause of Christ needs no less education but 
more consecration. We do not need more 
strength so much as we need to use our 
strength more. 

If we would become strong physically, we 
must obey the laws that will strengthen us 
physically; if we would become strong spirit- 
ually, we must obey the laws that will strength- 
en us spiritually. I have selected two of 
these which are most prominent and to which 
all others are subordinate; viz.: eating and 
exercising. If these laws are properly obeyed 
our spiritual strength will be greatly increased, 
if they are violated, they will be very much 
diminished. 

Reader, this is the desire of the author — 
that you may be led spiritually to eat prop- 
erly and exercise regularly — to study the word 
of the Lord and engage in the work of the 
Lord that you may grow strong in the Lord. 

Yours in the Master*s name, 

W* A. BODELL. 



THE SPIRITUAL ATHLETE 



This is a question that many are asking. It 
is not, Have I sufficient strength? but, How 
can I get more? Few have more strength 
than they desire; none more than they need. 

Of consecrated strength there is not enough; 
of desecrated strength there is too much. 
Strength used for good is blessed; strength 
used for evil is cursed. The one is used; the 
other is abused. The one is honorable; the 
other is dishonorable. The one has been 
used as it ought; the other has been used for 
naught. If we use our strength for the end 
intended, there can be no doubt but that our 
work will be rewarded. 

What is the desire of our young men to- 
day? Is it not to get physical strength? They 
would rather be athletes physically, than be 
giants spiritually. You hear them talk more 
frequently about their muscle than about their 
mental caliber. The development of their 
bodies is to them of more importance than 
the development of their souls. 

The care of the body is important, but the 
7 



THE SPIRITUAL ATHLETE 



care of the soul is urgent. To care more for 
your body than for your soul, is building for 
time; but to care more for your soul than for 
your body, is building for eternity. 

Who is the hero amongst our young men.? 
Is it the man who is always lagging behind, 
who goes moping along, whose tardiness is 
indicative of his laziness .^^ No! It is the man 
that can jump the farthest, can run the fast- 
est, can do the most daring feats; whose soul 
is buoyant, whose life is a pleasure, whose 
hope is an inspiration. 

Who is it that our young men envy? Is 
it the man with puny body, bent form, slack- 
ened gait and sallow complexion? By no 
means ! It is, after all, the man who looks 
the best, is the best, does the most, that they 
admire. 

But it is not only so with the individual, it 
has been so with nations. Their games and 
combats, in which was displayed much phys- 
ical strength, were a part of their religion. 
Greece had her heroes; she esteemed them 
gods. To the Grecians, to be victorious in 
the games was the greatest honor. Kings 
envied it; poets sang of it. To be victorious 
in war was much; to be conqueror in combat 
was more. Rulers were honored ; victors w^re 



MOIV HE TRAINS 

worshiped. Hercules, Theseus, Castor and 
Pollux were subduers of monsters. They slew 
lions, strangled serpents, overcame giants, 
were valiant in war, and were worshiped as 
gods. The Greeks had Ajax wrestling with 
Ulysses; Hercules with Achelous. To over- 
come in these, to the Greeks there was no 
higher honor. Who of them honored not 
Polydamas? They were more zealous for 
their physical beauty than for their moral in- 
tegrity. They thought more of men's bod- 
ies than of their souls. They cared more for 
flesh than they did for spirit; more for the 
house than the one that lived in it. 

Nor was Greece alone in this; other nations 
were like her. Rome had her games and tests 
of physical strength and endurance; no less 
than Greece did she esteem her strong men. 
These were her heroes. She had them en- 
shrined in her temples as types of physical 
form and beauty. 

god's strong men 

Nor have nations only valued physical 
strength; God himself has chosen strong men. 
Moses was a man of strength; else the flight 
into Midian would have exhausted him; the 
anxiety of the Exodus would have crushed 



10 THE SPIRITUAL ATHLETE 

him; the trials of the wilderness would have 
killed him; yet he withstood all, and when the 
Lord took him "his eyes were not dimmed, 
nor his natural force abated." 

Elijah was a physical as well as a spiritual 
athlete. The eighteen-mile swift run in front 
of Ahab's chariot — how could he have accom- 
plished it? the forty days' rapid flight through 
the desert — how could he have endured it? 
He was trained on the mountains; he was 
tried in the desert. 

Saul was a strong man, of great stature — 
higher than any of the people, from his shoul- 
ders upward. But Saul prostituted his strength 
when like David he should have exclaimed, 
"My strength faileth because of mine iniqui- 
ty." Though he at one time stood head-and- 
shoulders above his people, at another time he 
had sunken over head-and-shoulders into iniq- 
uity. His physical strength that crowned him 
was an awful contrast to the moral weak- 
ness which ruined him. Though he was a 
giant in physical strength without, he was too 
weak in spiritual strength to subdue the giant 
within. 

Daniel was a man of strength, well-favored 
and without a blemish. He was worthy to 
stand before kings; but his moral strength 



HOIV HE TRAINS 11 

was far greater than his physical strength. 

Paul was a man of great strength and phys- 
ical endurance; though he had a thorn in the 
flesh he nevertheless had strength in his body; 
he accomplished much but he also endured 
much. "In labors he was more abundant, 
in stripes above measure, in prisons more 
frequent, in deaths oft. Of the Jews five 
times received he forty stripes save one. 
Thrice was he beaten with rods, once was he 
stoned, thrice he suffered shipwreck, a night 
and a day was he in the deep. In journeyings 
often, in perils of waters, in perils of rob- 
bers, in perils by his own countrymen, in per- 
ils by the heathen, in perils in the city, in 
perils in the wilderness, in perils in the sea, 
in perils among false brethren. In weari- 
ness and painfulness, in watchings often, in 
hunger and thirst, in fastings often, in cold 
and nakedness. ^^ 

Oh, what a test of strength ! What a fight 
he fought ! What a race he ran ! Who ever 
suffered as much without being exhausted.'^ 
Who ever endured as much without being 
prostrated? But Paul was not more noted 
for his physical endurance than for his spirit- 
ual diligence. He was a trained athlete in 
the spiritual sphere; and the law of his life 



12 THE SPIRITUAL ATHLETE 

was, "Forgetting those things which are be- 
hind and reaching forth unto those things 
which are before, I press toward the mark 
for the prize of the high caHing of God in 
Jesus Christ." 

THE STRENGTH OF THE BODY 

Who would disparage the importance of 
physical strength? The body is the .instru- 
ment of the will. We usually will what we 
do, but we do not always what we will. 
Sometimes we will more than we are able 
to do. The body often forsakes what the 
will undertakes. The rapacity of the will is 
often more than the capacity of the body. 
Our wills often attempt what our bodies pre- 
vent. Where is the profit in having a strong 
will and a weak body.'^ 

Napoleon had an indomitable will but he 
had also enduring strength; he had a will 
that dared much but he also had a body that 
endured much. Had his body been inefficient, 
then his will would have been more than 
sufficient. To have more strength than you 
have will is useless; to have more will than 
you have strength is weakness. Many have 
desired to do good who have not been able; 
many have been able to do good who have 



HOIV HE TRAINS 13 

not desired it. Who would be weaker than 
is necessary? Who would not rather have 
strength to accomplish what they desired, than 
desire what they are not able to accomplish ? 
To have a tenacity of purpose and no purpose 
of tenacity is useless; to have one and not 
the other is fruitless; to have both is to ac- 
complish whatsoever we desire; but let us be 
careful that we desire only what is right to 
accomplish. 

Let us get strength and for good use it ; 
rather than having it and for evil lose it. 

THE STRENGTH OF THE SOUL 

But however important physical strength 
may be spiritual strength is more important. 

"Exercise thyself rather unto godliness. 
For exercise profiteth a little; but godliness 
is profitable unto all things, having the prom- 
ise of the life that now is, and of that which 
is to come." 

"But know ye not that your bodies are the 
temples of the Holy Ghost.^^" 

To care more for your body than for your 
soul would be like taking care of the altar 
and letting the fire go out that is to burn 
thereon. Who would throw away the sword 
and keep the scabbard ? Who would throw 



14 THE SPIRITUAL ATHLETE 

away the jewel and keep the casket? To 
neglect our souls for the sake of our bodies 
would be throwing away the gold and keeping 
the dross. Our souls are as far more impor- 
tant than our bodies as eternity is longer 
than time, or as heaven is higher than the 
earth. There is a natural and there is a 
spiritual body; the first is of the earth earthy, 
the second is from heaven heavenly. Our 
bodies are temporal but our spirits are eternal. 
Our body shall return to dust and ashes, but 
our spirits unto God who gave them. 

You may destroy the body, but you cannot 
destroy the soul. 

I would not discourage you in getting phys- 
ical strength, but I would encourage you in 
getting spiritual strength. If the one is val- 
uable, then the other is inestimable. 

**Thou shalt need all the strength that God can give, 
Simply to live, my friend, simply to live.'* 

"For we wrestle not against flesh or blood, 
but against principalities, against powers, 
against spiritual wickedness in high places." 
Spiritual foes cannot be overcome by carnal 
weapons; spiritual giants cannot be overcome 
by physical strength. David could slay the 
giant of the Philistines with a sling and a 
§tone, but he could not overcome the giant 



HOIV HE TRAINS 15 

within him, with all the power at a king's 
command. If we want to overcome our spir- 
itual enemy, Satan, we must use spiritual 
weapons. Take the sword of the spirit, which 
is the word of God; with it the Saviour foiled 
the Devil. "It is written, It is written, ^^ is 
worth more than a Damascus blade; "And 
thus saith the Lord," more than a swift-flying 
arrow. Wherefore take the whole armor of 
God. Notice we are to take it, not to make 
it. Our king furnishes it, and we must use 
it; but if we are to use it, we must have 
strength to wield it. Either Saul's armor was 
too much for David, or David was not enough 
for Saul's armor. He could not fight Goliath 
with that; so he put it away from him. 

Oh, that there were multitudes of men 
spiritually strong, that they might take the 
whole armor of God and wield it ! Oh, for 
strength — spiritual strength — that we might 
slay spiritual giants, be valiant in battle and 
overcome our spiritual enemy ! 

"Be strong, be strong!" that is the admo- 
nition; to him that overcometh is the reward. 
But how shall we overcome when we are spir- 
itually undone.? Unless we conquer Satan 
he will conquer us. We shall never conquer 
him unless we have strength to overcome him. 



16 THE SPIRITUAL ATHLETE 

THE WAY OF STRENGTH 

But how shall we get strength? 

How do we get strong, physically? By 
believing in some theory of physical culture? 
By having faith in some system of gymnas- 
tics? Will that give us strength? Who- 
ever developed muscle by simply believing 
that there was a way by which it was done? 
No one. Nor can we; it is impossible. Yet 
some think they can obtain spiritual strength 
after this fashion. There are only two ways 
in which it can be obtained: 

1. By Eating. 

2. By Exercising. 

These are the conditions of gaining physical 
strength; they are also the conditions of gain- 
ing spiritual strength. If it is impossible to 
gain physical strength by a theory then it is 
impossible to gain spiritual strength without 
practice. It may thus be desired but it can- 
not thus be acquired. The same law that 
rules in the physical sphere also rules in the 
spiritual sphere. There are two principal con- 
ditions in gaining physical strength; there are 
also but two in obtaining spiritual strength; 
viz: Eating properly and exercising properly. 



HOIV HE TRAINS 17 

SPIRITUAL FOOD 

First, then, we must eat. Jeremiah de- 
clares that "The words of the Lord were 
found and he did eat them/^ The Lord said 
to Ezekiel, "Son of man, eat this roll." 
What did he mean.? Literally that he should 
eat the roll.'^ Yes, he was to feed upon it 
spiritually as men feed upon food physically. 
He was to read it, study it, believe it; just 
as with food, we are to eat it, masticate it, 
assimilate it. As we convert what we eat 
into physical muscle by known physical laws, 
so we are to convert what we read into moral 
muscle by similar spiritual laws. 

But instead of feeding upon the word many 
are destroying it. There are two ways of 
treating seed. The naturalist cuts it up and 
discourses upon it; the husbandman reaps it 
and feeds upon it. The one may ascertain 
the characteristics of it, but the other derives 
strength from it. Similarly men are treating 
the gospel. The critic dissects it, raises a 
mountain of doubt about it, but does not re- 
ceive any strength from it; the simple-minded 
husbandman sows it, reaps it, and lives upon 

it. 

So we are to feed upon the word. What 
would be the result physically if we stopped 



18 THE SPIRITUAL ATHLETE 

eating? We would soon die. But what is 
the result spiritually of those of us who 
stopped reading? Many of us are dead. 

I fear of many it might be said as was said 
of the church in Sardis, "Thou hast a name 
that thou livest, and art dead.'* 

Many of us have starved our souls. Our 
souls can no more live upon nothing than our 
bodies. It is by eating that we sustain life. 
When we stop eating we stop living. Where 
there is life, there is growth; when we stop 
living, we stop growing. A tree that has no 
life has no growth. Where there is growth, 
there is strength; that which has no growth 
has no strength. Where growth ends, strength 
declines; where it continues, it remains. 
Would we have strength ? Then we must 
have life. Would we have life? Then we 
must do that which sustains life — we must 
eat. 

HOW TO EAT 

So we must do spiritually; our spiritual 
natures must be fed. There is a natural and 
there is a spiritual body; we care for the nat- 
ural, but shall we starve the spiritual? We 
are careful of the less, but do not care much 
for the greater. If our bodies have no nu- 



HOIV HE TRAlhlS 19 

triment they will soon suffer detriment. If 
our spiritual bodies fast long they will not last 
long. Our spiritual bodies are not to be fed 
upon natural food, any more than our natural 
bodies are to be fed upon spiritual food. The 
natural is from below, but the spiritual is from 
above. Shall we feed that which is from 
above by that which comes from below ? The 
one is to be fed on natural food, the other on 
spiritual food. But how shall we eat spir- 
itual food ? Very much in the same way that 
we eat physical food; the one goes into our 
mouths, the other into our minds. As we 
masticate physical food with our mouths, so 
we absorb spiritual food with our minds. 
Eating is reading; digesting is studying; as- 
similating is believing. The physical food 
that goes through this process becomes phys- 
ical strength; the spiritual food that goes 
through a similar process becomes spiritual 
strength. The food that we eat has become 
a part of us, after we have assimilated it; so 
the matter that we read has become a part of 
us, after we have believed it. If we want to 
feed upon the word of God, let us read it, 
study it, believe it, then it will beconie a part 
of our spiritual body, as the food we eat by a 
similar process becomes a part of our natural 



20 THE SPIRITUAL ATHLETE 

bodies. But what shall we say of those who 
never eat spiritually? Never eat anything 
that will strengthen their spiritual bodies? 
They are skeletons! hideous, frightful! Oh, 
that we could only see ourselves spiritually 
as we see ourselves physically. What hid- 
eous things we would behold ! 

I shall never forget the impression made 
upon me, when, a few years ago, I saw a 
man who had determined to starve himself; 
he had concluded that it was all foolishness 
to eat, so he determined to eat no more. When 
I saw him he had taken no food for several 
weeks; and what a sight! A living man with 
a body like that of the dead; pale, emaciated; 
eyes sunken, cheeks fallen, beauty of form gone, 
his body a skeleton, his limbs like sticks, his 
fingers like claws. Could the graves give up 
their dead, none more horrible could come 
forth. It was a deathly picture of a living 
being! But, my reader, could we but behold 
our spiritual body we might see as terrible 
a spectacle as this. Because we cannot see 
our spirit and do not realize its condition we 
think it is not so bad. But unless our spirit 
feeds carefully, it will look as terribly. 



HOIV HE TRAINS 21 

WHAT TO EAT 

Much also depends upon zv/ia^ we eat ; eat- 
ing nothing is bad, but eating everything is 
Httle better. If we eat nothing we will soon 
be famishing. If we eat everything we will 
soon be perishing. If we do not eat carefully 
we must suffer accordingly There is some 
food which will strengthen us, but there is 
also food which will weaken us. Eating food 
which is substantial, is doing that which is 
essential. Animals eat by intuition; we eat 
according to fruition. Animals seldom eat 
what is not meet; we often eat what we do 
not need. 

Thus it is physically, but how is it spiritu- 
ally.? As much depends upon what we eat, 
so much depends upon what we read. If by 
eating improperly we can ruin our bodies, so 
by reading improperly we may ruin our souls. 
Care in eating is not more important than 
care in reading. Upon what, then, have we 
been living spiritually.? Have we been living 
upon strengthening meats or upon softening 
sweets.? 

It is not very difficult to tell upon what 
some men feed. Whatever our natur^x craves, 
that is upon what we generally live. Few 
eat what they would not; many eat what they 



22 THE SPIRITUAL ATHLETE 

should not. Some of our appetites are de- 
praved, and we often feed upon what we 
should not have. When we only eat what 
we would, and cannot eat what we should, 
then, alas, what is our condition? We are to 
know men by their fruits, but more often we 
can judge them better by their pursuits. What 
we desire often shows the brand of us better 
than what we require. We do not always 
have the greatest greed for that which is our 
greatest need. If we have an appetite for 
sweets, we seldom live on meats. 

FEEDING ON ASHES 

Look at some of our young men! Upon 
what do they feed their spiritual bodies.? 
Their countenance speaks it, their conversa- 
tion reveals it, their associations tell it, their 
life confirms it: "They feed on ashes." Some 
of our young men, who go about our cities 
without a fiber of Christian strength, with 
more collar than conscience, more cane than 
character, more starch than "stuff'' — it is not 
difficult to tell upon what they live. It is 
this miserable saloon, billiard-hall, gambling- 
den, street and alley bill of fare. It comes 
up from the pit. It smites and blasts and de- 
stroys whoever partakes of it. Like salt at 



HOM^ HE TRAINS 23 

the roots of a tree, it will kill it. There is 
no spiritual strength derived from these for 
our spiritual nature, unless our spirits are of 
a very vicious nature. Satan's food will be 
for Satan's good; he who feeds upon it will 
sooner or later suffer from it. 

THE WORD A TABLE 

But you say. Where shall we get spiritual 
food ? If we would get strong in the Lord 
we must feed upon His word. The Lord has 
given us our spirits, and He has not left us 
without food for them. Read the word, 
study it, believe it. It is a table prepared by 
our Master; loaded with good things for our 
spiritual bodies. How many might partake of 
it, who, alas, never taste of it. But for what 
we have no desire, that we think we do not 
require. Medicine is often bitter to us, but 
nevertheless it is necessary for us. 

But why do we not eat that which is good, 
that our souls may delight in fatness? If we 
fed upon the word of God, we would never 
be found in spiritual weakness. But, you say, 
I would read the Bible more if it were not so 
tedious. But is it not because you ^re irrelig- 
ious.^ If we always feed upon that only which 
is agreeable, we will at last be found want- 



24 THE SPIRITUAL ATHLETE 

ing, and be eternally miserable. Simply to 
eat what we crave is often to feed the de- 
praved nature that we have. To read only 
what we like, often tells that we like what we 
ought not to read. If we say that we cannot 
feed upon the word, then our taste has been 
very much perverted; and the only remedy 
for such perversion is a genuine conversion. 
To read simply to gratify our taste, may, in- 
stead of strengthening us, spiritually ruin us. 
We may have the appearance of life, but, like 
a tree smitten with the blight, there is the 
presence of death. 

The reading of healthy books is good, but 
the reading of the Book of books is far better. 
I would not say that we should read the 
former less, but I would say read the latter 
more. How many give other advice ! They 
say, Read everything. That would be as dis- 
astrous as to eat everything. They will tell 
us that the Bible is a dead book, because 
they get no life from it ; that it has no strength 
in it, because they derive no strength from it. 
They would have us believe that if we desire 
to be wise we must read everything. That is 
the voice of Satan; it is the same story that 
he told in Eden. It is the same lie that he 
had Adam and Eve believe.. The Lord told 



HOIV HE TRAINS 25 

them not to eat of the fruit of the garden, 
but Satan persuaded them that the Lord was 
mistaken, and that if they ate of all the fruit 
of the garden, they would be as gods, know- 
ing good from evil. They ate and their eyes 
were opened; but oh! what a sad revelation 
it must have been ! True, now they began to 
know good from evil, but hitherto they had 
known no evil. But from hence, alas, they be- 
gan to know less of good than they did of 
evil. And now ye who tempt us to read that 
which is not good, are you not like Satan.'* 
The fruit that you are trying to have us eat, 
is it not forbidden.^ You tell us that there is 
nothing gained in reading the Bible, read some- 
thing that will give large ideas ; get a knowl- 
edge of the world; read something that will 
give an idea of the other side of life. What if 
we follow your advice? What a sad experience 
we will have. Instead of becoming as gods, 
we will more likely become as devils. Before 
we had known no evil, therefore we did that 
which was good; now we know but little good, 
therefore we do that which is evil. Better 
to have no experience than to have a sad ex- 
perience ; better not see than to see only that 
which is evil; better know nothing at all than 
to know only that which will cause us to fall. 



$6 THE SPIRITUAL ATHLETE 

He who knows nothing but good is sometimes 
called a fanatic; but he who knows nothing 
but evil ought to be regarded as Satanic. To 
see nothing but good may be short-sighted- 
ness; but to see nothing but evil ought to be 
regarded as terrible wickedness. To know 
both and do that which is right is good enough ; 
but to know both and do that which is wrong 
is bad enough. 

HOW TO HEAL DISEASES 

Now there is something in that Book of 
books for every weakness. There is no spir- 
itual disease but that there is a prescription 
for it. There is no spiritual ailment but what 
there is a remedy for it. Physicians prescribe 
different diets for different diseases; so in this 
book there are special portions for special diffi- 
culties. If we are following afar off, read the 
abiding chapter (John 15); if we have back- 
slidden, read the backslider's chapter (Jer. 
3) ; if we are hungry, read the bread chapter 
(John 6) ; if we have no moral strength, read 
the character chapter (Job 29) ; if we are 
halting, read the come chapter (Isa. 55;; if 
we are being overcome, read the conquerors' 
chapter (Luke 4) ; if we are enslaved, read 
the deliverance chapter (Psa. 18); if we 



HOH^ HE TRAINS 27 

are unbelieving, read the faith chapter (Heb. 
iij; if we are thirsty, read the Hving water 
chapter (John 4) ; if we are weary, read the 
rest chapter (Heb. 4) ; if we are wandering, 
read the refuge chapter (Psa. 46) ; if we are 
weak, read the tonic chapter (Psa. 27); if 
we are lazy, read the work chapter (J as. 2). 

There are as many diseases of the soul as 
there are of the body; but there are also as 
many remedies for the diseases of the soul as 
there are remedies for the diseases of the 
body. Drunkenness is a spiritual dropsy, but 
Prov. 20: 1, with Cor. 12:9, ought to be a 
sufficient remedy. Self-confidence is a spir- 
itual lethargy, but I Cor. 10:12, and Matt. 
26:41, ought to wake us from such vanity. 
Envy is a spiritual canker, but Matt. 5:29 to 
30, ought to do away with the "blear-eyed 
monster." Lust is a spiritual fever; Gal. 5-6, 
ought to check it forever. Backsliding is a 
spiritual relapse, but Jeremiah 2:19 and 3:12 
to 13, ought to restore us to our former state. 
Hardness of heart is a spiritual stone, but 
Jeremiah 23:29, ought to break it to pieces. 
A seared conscience is a spiritual apoplexy; 
Hebrews 9: 14, ought to arouse it to great ac- 
tivity. Pride is a spiritual tumor, but Prov- 



28 THE SPIRITUAL ATHLETE 

erbs i6: i8, ought to awaken us to its danger. 
Be sure we read just what we need; to 
read what we ought not to read is as disas- 
trous spiritually, as to eat what we ought not 
to eat physically. If we knew the conse- 
quences of eating carelessly, then we would 
take heed to the consequences of reading 
foolishly. Could we but see the consequences 
spiritually as we see them physically, then 
would we still be so foolish } If we but saw 
the consequences physically would we still be 
so careless.? Are we to eat indigestible food for 
poor digestion.? Then are we to recommend 
the hardest portions of the word for a weak 
Christian.? 

There is something in knowing what to eat; 
then is there nothing in knowing what to 
read.? In the former, ignorance is dangerous, 
but in the latter it is perilous. I know a young 
man who said he was a Christian until he be- 
gan to read the Bible. "WelV I asked him, 
"how much do you read it.?" He replied, "I 
read it every day." "But how do you read 
it.?" "Why, in the evening before I retire I 
take my Bible, and where I happen to open, 
there I read." How ridiculous! Whoever 
would think of eating in this way? 



HOIV HE TRAIhlS 29 

What do you think of that man, who, hav- 
ing tramped the streets for several days in a 
vain effort to get something to eat, passes a 
grocery, and being desperate, he says to him- 
self, '^I must have something to eat, and I 
will step into that grocery and the first thing 
I see I will eat.'^ He steps into the grocery, 
and the first thing he sees is a long bar of 
soap; but he must keep his word, so he takes 
that soap and eats it. 

Do you think that appeased his hunger 
any? I do not know which would be the 
worst, to die for something to eat or to eat 
something from which men are sure to die. 
Oh, you say, that is ridiculous! Yes, but 
reading the Bible just where we happen to 
open might be just as disastrous. Soap is 
useful in its place. It is good for cleansing, 
but who would think of appropriating it for 
eating? Bread is good for eating, but who 
would think of using it for washing? The 
one is just as absurd as the other; both were 
in that grocery; if he had used discretion he 
would have gone a step farther and taken the 
bread. Both are in the Bible ; there are por- 
tions for cleansing, and portions for eating; 
but the man who says, "I will read just where 
I open,'' may have to read that with which he 
should have cleansed himself. 



30 THE SPIRITUAL ATHLETE 

A COMMON ERROR 

If we would feed with as much care spirit- 
ually as animals feed physically, then it 
would be much better. When I was a boy I 
used to feed my father's flock, in the even- 
ing I would give them fodder and hay. The 
next morning when I would go to feed them 
again I would find that they had eaten all the 
good part of the fodder and had eaten out 
all the good hay, but there were the briers 
and the hard stalks; you could not make 
them eat that. Do we eat with as much dis- 
cretion.? No! And alas, what a sad confes- 
sion. We pick out all the good hay, tear off 
all the good leaves and husks from the fodder 
and throw them away and then try to eat the 
briers and stalks. That is the way, alas, 
that many of us read the Bible. We hunt out 
all the difficult portions, pick out all the good 
that is in them, throw them away and try to 
eat what remains. 

Oh, that we read the word as God intended 
it, then there would be no need of the men 
who have so ably defended it. When read 
aright, there is nothing better; when read all 
wrong there is nothing worse. Would we 
read it all right .'^ Read it then by the aid of 



I 



HOIV HE TRAINS 31 

the spirit. Should we read it all wrong, it will 
not be long until we will deny it. If we read 
it carefully, it will get us wisdom ; if we read 
it prayerfully it will get us salvation. 

THE WAY OF WEAKNESS 

How much do we read our Bibles? Do we 
read them three times a day ? If we do not, 
then we are not spiritual. If we do not read 
them at all, then our condition is critical. 
To care more for our bodies than for our 
souls is to be eternally miserable; to care 
more for our souls than for our bodies is infi- 
nitely preferable. Oh, that men would look 
after the things that are eternal and not so 
much after the things temporal. I knew a 
young man, who was the pride of a father's 
home and the joy of a mother's heart. But 
he decided to leave his home and go into the 
city; against his mother's requests and his 
father's protests he decided to go. As he was 
getting ready his mother brought him his 
Bible and put it in his trunk. It was a sad 
day when he left his father's house and broke 
his mother's heart. When he came to the city 
he immediately went to the place where he 
expected to be employed. His expectations 
were realized; he at once began to work as 



32 THE SPIRITUAL ATHLETE 

best he could ; that day was lonesome for him, 
he seemed lost; no one cared for him. The 
next morning he went to his place of business 
with a heavy heart. The other clerks notice 
it, and they say to one another, "Do you 
see that greenhorn from the country.? We 
will have to take him out and show him the 
sights." So they come up to him and say, 
"Won't you go out with us to-night and have 
a time.? We will show you the city." "No," 
said he, "I cannot go; I must find a lodging 
place and unpack my trunk." "O pshaw! 
what is the matter with you? Are you one of 
those *goody goody' fellows.? I suppose you 
read your Bible three times a day; but you 
will soon get over that. Come on! You 
might just as well be broken in now as any 
time; you will be broken in sooner or later 
anyway." But he said, "No, I do not care to 
go to-night." 

That evening he went out looking for a 
lodging place; he soon found one; he sent to 
the depot for his trunk; he took it to his room, 
began to unpack it, and when he came to his 
Bible he remembered what the clerks at the 
store had said, and he thought, "I will not 
need that," and he put it down in the bottom 
of his trunk. There it remained for six 



HOIV HE TRAINS 



months. Meanwhile he was getting weak 
morally. He began to engage in the unholy 
conversation of the clerks, enjoy their smutty 
stories, laugh at their dirty jokes. He grad- 
ually, though perhaps unconsciously, was for- 
saking his Saviour and taking sides with Satan. 
His associates were aware of it and rejoiced 
in it, so they said to him, "Do you still read 
your Bible.?" "No," he replied, "I have given 
that up; there is nothing in doing it." "Well," 
they say, "you are ready to go out with us 
now are you not.?" "Yes," said he, "I will be 
glad to go." 

THE FATAL STEP 

Out into the paths of sin they went. Oh ! 
I think every angeliDf darkness smiled as from 
one place to another they went. At the door 
of places of enchantment he halted as if the 
voice of his mother was saying to him, "My 
son, come not nigh to that door; it is the way 
to hell, going down to the chambers of 
death." But his comrades say, "Come on!" 
"Come on!" And in he goes, "straightway 
as the ox to the slaughter, or as a fool to the 
correction of the stocks ; and he knoweth not 
that it is for his life." Oh, the awful work 
was done! He had purchased a through 



34 THE SPIRITUAL ATHLETE 

ticket, on a lightning-express train, on a 
down-grade, broad gauge, to perdition. What 
was the fatal step in this young man's life? 
When he left home ? No ! When he engaged 
in the ungodliness of his associates? No! 
When he said that he would go out with 
them? No! When he went? No! When 
he stood at the door of enchantment, debating 
whether he should go in and then went ? No ! It 
was when he forsook his Bible and put it down 
in the bottom of his trunk. He threw away 
his pass to heaven and got a through-pass 
to hell. 

Oh, what, with the wine-cup and the 
gambler's dice and the scarlet enchantress, 
is the young man to do without the grace 
of God in his heart and moral fiber in his 
soul? 

BUT WHY? 

But why did he not have this muscle and 
fiber? Simply because he did nothing that 
would give it to him; he ate no spiritual food; 
he had no spiritual strength. The dirty jokes, 
the smutty stories of his fellows could not be 
nourishing to his moral and spiritual nature. 
Neither did he get much nourishment out of 



HOIV HE TRAINS 35 

his Bible down in the bottom of his trunk. Ah ! 
there was the trouble! Who would think of 
living six months on a lunch kept in the 
bottom of a trunk? No one; you would have 
to eat it, if you wanted to get any strength 
from it. That was the trouble with this young 
man; he never read his Bible; it did not be- 
come daily food for him. 

Say, my reader, how often do we read our 
Bible? Can we say as Job did, "I have es- 
teemed the word of His mouth more than 
necessary food?'^ Is it our daily food? Has it 
become meat and drink for our souls? If it 
has not, spiritually are we not getting very 
weak? Have we ever had any spiritual life, 
or are we spiritually dead? "Verily I say un- 
to you ye must be born again.'' Have we 
once lived and now are dead? Then there must 
be another resurrection. The Saviour must 
again cry, with a loud voice, "Lazarus, come 
forth!'' 

I once heard a man say that he could not 
see how some people lived spiritually unless 
they lived like a tape-worm — upon what some- 
one else ate. A homely illustration, but, alas, 
how true 1 Some of us never eat for qurselves. 
We expect someone else to prepare our 
food for us. Yes, and spiritually we often ex- 



36 THE SPIRITUAL ATHLETE 

pect them to eat it for us. We expect others 
to read for us, study for us, and then give the 
fruit of it to us. This cannot be done, any 
more than others can eat for us, masticate for 
us or digest for us. If good, substantial meat 
of the word is too much for us then we had 
better feed upon the milk awhile ; at all events 
it would be better than to have someone else 
eat for us. Many of us expect the minister 
to prepare our spiritual food for us, and feed 
us, like a child, once a week. When others 
prepare our food for us they season it ac- 
cording to their own tastes. I fear it is so 
with our spiritual food, when others pre- 
pare it; they prepare it to suit their own 
tastes; they season it with their own ideas — 
the opinions of men, with the philosophies of 
their own liking, with the wisdom of the 
world. We must have a stout digestion to 
feed on some men's theology; no sap, no 
spring, no life, but all stern accuracy, without 
any spiritual fervency, it is a cold meal in- 
deed. 

To turn stones into bread was a temptation 
of our Master, but alas! how many yield to 
a worse temptation, to turn bread into stone. 

Let us have the pure milk and meat of 
the word. Spices are good enough for the 



HOIV HE TRAINS 37 

palate but they will not give fiber to the soul. 
Seasoning may be desirable but it will not be 
profitable. People are often taken more with 
the seasoning than with the word itself; they 
have come to like spices very much. Feed 
upon the good meat yourself and do not eat 
the pudding that someone else has made out 
of it. It may taste well to you, but it will" 
not be well for you. 

IMPROPER FOOD 

Then again those who prepare our food for 
us are often so accommodating that they will 
not consider what is best for us, but prepare 
our food to suit our own tastes, no matter 
what that may be. How many are there 
whose health has been ruined in this way } 
But, alas ! how many are there whose souls 
have been ruined in a similar way.? Instead 
of feeding us on good spiritual truth they feed 
us on what we want and not what we need. I 
once knew an experienced cook of a private club 
who prepared for them just what they wanted. 
When the health of a few had given way, the 
physician instructed him not to do so again, 
and asked him why he did it. "Well,'' said 
he, "if I did not, I would have lost my posi- 
tion long ago." Does not that explain why 



38 THE SPIRITUAL ATHLETE 

SO many feed their flock upon what they want 
and not upon what they need? 

HOW TO EAT 

Then much depends upon how we eat. 
We must eat regularly. If we ate three or 
four meals one day and then omitted three or 
' four days, what do you think would be the 
consequences ? How do you think we would 
fare if we were to eat one big meal on Sun- 
day and then not eat anything for a whole 
week ? But who would think of eating in that 
way? No one; but spiritually how many eat 
more irregularly than that. There are some 
who think they can read enough of the word 
on Sunday to last them during all the week 
days. We might just as well try to eat 
enough on Sundays to last all week. Some 
of us do not even that ; we must be fed on 
Sundays and that is all the spiritual food we 
get. There are some of us who read a chap- 
ter on New Year's day and then we will read 
no more until the next New Year's day. We 
are like the man who always read the 103 
Psalm on Thanksgiving day, and that was all 
that he read the whole year. Now what 
would you think of the man who would eat 
one big meal on Thanksgiving day and then 



HOM^ HE TRAINS 39 

would eat nothing more until the next Thanks- 
giving day? Physically it is impossible, but 
spiritually we think it probable. If the one 
is not reasonable then the other cannot be 
profitable. If we were to do so physically we 
would soon have dyspepsia; if we attempt the 
latter we will soon have a bad case of spiritual 
mania. There are a great many spiritual 
dyspeptics who have eaten so irregularly that 
their spiritual stomachs are out of order. 
They cannot digest even the simplest kind of 
food; nothing will stay down. This is why 
so many go to church on Sundays, hear a 
good sermon and then go out and throw it all 
off. It gives them no strength; it is no source 
of help to them. Unless a man feeds regu- 
larly on spiritual tood on week-days, he will 
not get much good out of what he eats on 
Sundays. How would we fare if we did not 
eat anything during the week-days and then 
ate a big meal on Sundays f Would we fare 
very well.^ No, we would fare very ill. 
There are many who try to feed that way spir- 
itually, and then what they hear on Sundays 
lies on them heavily. If we eat foolishly we 
must suffer physically ; if we read si^rregularly 
we must suffer spiritually. If you feed well 
you will feel well; if you read well you will 
fare well. 



40 THE SPIRITUAL ATHLETE 



How many meals do we eat a day? Do 
any of us eat but one? No, most of us eat 
three and then some of us are hungry. But 
how often do we sit down to that feast, the 
Bible, and eat a good meal ? Do we do it 
three times a day? If not, then we care more 
for our physical nature than for our spiritual 
nature. In this age we have not much time 
to think about spiritual things that shall last 
throughout eternity, but are altogether ab- 
sorbed with temporal things which will end 
with time. We must look after the things that 
are temporal and let go of the things that are 
eternal. We have not time to feed upon the 
word which will strengthen us, but like busy 
men we seize a small portion and swallow it 
and leave it to trouble us. We never take 
time to masticate it, digest it, assimilate it — 
to read it, study it, believe it. As men be- 
come miserably affected physically, so we be- 
come seriously dejected spiritually. Oh, that 
we were as fearful of spiritual perdition as we 
are careful of our physical condition. If our 
souls are of more value than our bodies why 
then should we starve them ? If we treated 
our bodies as we do our souls, we should not 
long have them. Would we then be strong 



i 



MOJV HE TRAINS 41 

spiritually, then let us feed upon the word 
regularly. If we starve our body we abuse 
it; if we starve our soul we will lose it. If we 
were to eat one meal a year our bodies would 
soon be famishing; if we read the word but 
once a year, our souls will soon be perishing. 
Salvation comes by believing, but how can 
there be firm believing without much spiritual 
reading? Spiritually, he that reads much, 
will also believe much. Constant reading 
gives firm believing. A prayerful reader 
makes a strong believer. If we would only 
read more, then we would believe more. 

LIVING ON THE PAST 

I fear too many of us are living too much 
upon things of thepast and not enough upon 
the things of the present. We are after all 
like ruminating animals; we chew the cud; 
we eat again and again what we have eaten 
before. We are like the man who had a won- 
derful experience when he was converted. It 
was a great feast for him. He tried to live 
upon his experience. He used to repeat it 
over and over and get much comfort out of 
it. When he would get despondent, he would 
repeat his experience and meditate upon it, 
and he would get much consolation from it. 



42 THE SPIRITUAL ATHLETE 

When his faith failed him he would fall back 
upon his experience. Finally he became old 
and feeble and he was afraid of forgetting his 
experience. So he wrote it out, and carefully 
put it away with his deeds of land to keep 
until the time of need. When the time came 
for him to die he felt very much the need of 
something to comfort him in that trying hour. 
He sent his grandson to bring him his expe- 
rience; he went and returned with the sad 
news that the rats had eaten up his experience 
and made a nest of it. Alas! All his hope 
was gone! He must die in despair! He had 
nothing left to cling to ; that upon which he 
had been depending all his lifetime, and what 
he thought was a title-deed to everlasting life, 
was gone. He had had a glorious experience, 
but he died a hopeless death. What was the 
matter.^ Why, instead of living upon the word 
and growing thereby, he tried to live upon an 
old experience, and starved thereby. 

I have a bill of fare of a rich repast of 
which I partook years ago. How do you 
think I would have fared, if, instead of eating 
daily, I would have gotten that old bill of 
fare and looked over it and thought of the 
good things I had to eat then.? Do you think 
I would have become strong and healthful.? 



MOIV HE TRAINS 43 

No! I would be weak and pitiful. That is 
just what this man tried to do; he was dead 
spiritually long before he was dead physically. 
Instead of hving upon daily food as we ought 
to do, he tried to live upon the experience 
which he had forty years ago. But how many 
of us are trying to live in the same way ? In- 
stead of feeding upon the word, we are think- 
ing of an experience that we once had, and 
expect to live upon it. I might just as well 
expect to live upon that old bill of fare phys- 
ically as to expect to live upon an experience 
that I have had spiritually. There are many 
who can tell us a grand experience; but that 
is usually all they can tell us. They will tell 
you that they have been Christians "Lo, 
these many years;'^ They can tell you the 
exact day and hour when they had that ex- 
perience, but that is as far as they ever get. 
They depend more upon thinking about their 
old experience than they do upon studying 
the word. Many of them may not die ex- 
perienceless, yet they may die Christless. 
When we are born, we might just as well ever 
after expect to live without eating, as when 
we are converted, ever after expect to live 
without reading. The one would cause phys- 
ical death; the other would cause spiritual 



44 THE SPIRITUAL ATHLETE 

death. We might just as well depend upon 
a meal that we ate forty years ago, as to at- 
tempt to live upon an experience we had forty 
years ago. None are foolish enough to 
attempt the former, but how many are in- 
cautious enough and do attempt the latter. 
The one is foolishness, the other is careless- 
ness, but both would be hopeless. 

BE TEMPERATE 

Then again we should not eat too much. 
We may eat too much, but can we read too 
much.^ There is just as much danger of read- 
ing too much as there is of eating too much. 
As we may eat too much, however substantial 
the food may be, so may we read too much, 
however good the matter may be. It is more 
serious to overload our minds than to over- 
load our stomachs. Our minds suffer from 
the transgression of spiritual laws; our bodies 
suffer from the transgression of physical laws. 
The laws which govern our physical bodies 
are wonderful, but the laws which govern our 
spiritual bodies are fearful. How often have 
we heard this question asked: "Can we read 
the Bible too much?'' Why not.? Can we not 
overload our minds as well as our stomachs.? 
The one operates physically, the other operates 



HOIV HE TRAINS 45 

spiritually; both are governed by laws. When 
we transgress these laws our bodies and minds 
must suffer for it. A hospital is bad enough, 
but an insane asylum is far worse. Hospitals 
are prisons for the transgression of physical 
laws; insane asylums are prisons for the trans- 
gression of spiritual laws; penitentiaries are 
prisons for the transgression of civil laws. If 
we transgress we must pay the penalty for that 
transgression. The higher the law the greater 
the penalty for its transgression. If then the 
spiritual laws are the highest, are not the 
penalties for their transgression the greatest.? 
If the penalty for physical transgression is 
twofold then the penalty for spiritual trans- 
gression must be one hundredfold. If by eat- 
ing too much we suffer temporal pain, then 
by reading too much we may suffer eternal 
woes. As our bodies are temporal their pains 
must be temporal ; but as our spirits are eter- 
nal, their woes must be eternal. The pun- 
ishment hereafter for the sins of this life will 
not be physical, but spiritual. We suffer the 
punishment of physical transgression in time, 
but we suffer the punishment of spiritual 
transgression in eternity. ^^ 



PUNISHMENT — TEMPORAL AND ETERNAL 

Shall the sin which is committed tempo- 



46 THE SPIRITUAL ATHLETE 

rally be punished eternally? Our bodies are 
temporal, therefore their punishment will be 
temporal; but our souls are eternal, and shall 
their punishment not be eternal? Men say, 
"Can a crime which is committed temporally 
be punished eternally?^' If that crime is a 
transgression of temporal laws it will be tem- 
poral; if it is a transgression of eternal laws, 
then it will be eternal. Murder is a transgres- 
sion of both temporal and eternal laws, there- 
fore its punishment will be both temporal and 
eternal. So it is with overeating and over- 
reading. The former transgression is tem- 
poral, its punishment will be temporal; the 
latter transgression is eternal, therefore its 
punishment will be eternal. Oh ! if the suffer- 
ing of physical wrecks is such that, though 
alive, they wish themselves dead, what must 
be the suffering of spiritual wrecks, who, be- 
ing dead, wish themselves alive? To be alive, 
with physical pain, is still far better than to 
be physically dead, with eternal pain. 

Have not men been ruined spiritually by 
reading the Bible too much? Many have 
overloaded their spiritual stomachs and have 
become set against spiritual food. We may 
be turned against spiritual food by reading 
too much, in the same way that we may be 



HO^V HE TRAINS 47 

turned against physical food by eating too 
much. 

I know of an instance where a man deter- 
mined to read the Bible through three times 
a year. He did it the first year; the second 
year he read it through once, now he does 
not read it at all, but has become very skep- 
tical. What was the cause of all this.^ Was 
it the reading of the Bible .^ No! It was the 
improper reading of it. Instead of taking 
proper food from it daily, and digesting it 
thoroughly — that is, studying it — he kept 
overloading his stomach until he wrecked his 
spiritual digestion and lost his appetite. He 
blamed the food instead of his improper eating 
of it. If a man should eat ten big meals a 
day and then become dyspeptic shall he blame 
the food for it } If a man overloads himself 
with spiritual food and becomes a skeptic 
shall he then blame the Bible for it } Not at 
all! 

OVER-MUCH READING A FOLLY 

To determine to read the Bible through 
three times a year may be just as foolish a 
determination as to determine to see^how much 
you can possibly eat for a whole year. If he 
attempted the latter he would soon be dead 



48 THE SPIRITUAL ATHLETE 

physically; if he attempts the former he will 
soon be dead spiritually. What is the matter 
with a great many of our Christians who read the 
Bible a good deal, and yet go about with long 
faces and sad countenances, as though they 
expected to live but a short time ? The truth is, 
spiritually they are already dead; they have 
overeaten. "And they are of all men most 
miserable.'' Better not eat enough and digest 
it, than to eat too much and regret it. So we 
had better not read enough and study it than 
to read too much and afterward lament it. 
Good food is a blessing when properly eaten, 
but it will be a curse if improperly eaten. So 
the Bible is a blessing when rightly read, but 
it may become a curse when foolishly read. 
Oh! that we knew how, and what to read! 
Eat what is meet; read what we need. 

NO APPETITE 

But, you say, I have no appetite for spirit- 
ual food. But why should it be anything 
astonishing that we do not like food which is 
spiritually nourishing.? Unless we are spiritu- 
ally minded, spiritual food will not greatly be 
desired; unless we get thirsty for the living 
waters we will not drink at the flowing fount- 
ain. The word is not much of a tonic for a 



HOIV HE TRAINS 49 

spiritual disease which is chronic. Sin is not 
much of a stimulant to spiritual nourishment. 
Ever since our first parents ate the fruit which 
was forbidden, we have a special desire to 
eat the fruit which they have eaten. But we 
must learn to eat spiritual food. The food 
that we at first relish the least, is often what 
we afterward enjoy the most. Food that we 
used to crave, is what we ought not now to 
have. To eat the food which is not for our spir- 
itual strengthening, will be to feed upon food 
that will be to us spiritually weakening. So, 
often we eat only what we like, but, alas! we 
often like what we ought not to eat. If we 
would like spiritual meat then we must learn 
to eat it; if we do not learn to eat it, then by 
and by we will come to hate it. 

EXERCISE AND APPETITE 

But there is another way by which we can 
obtain an appetite: by exercising. 

"Be ye doers of the word and not hearers 
only." We who serve the Lord have an 
appetite for his word. If we have no appetite 
for his word, it is evident that w^ have not 
desired to serve the Lord. Proper exercise 
will give us a good appetite. We who are 



50 THE SPIRITUAL ATHLETE 

good workers usually are good eaters. If 
we exercise properly, we will eat heartily. If 
physical exercise will give us good physical 
appetites, then will not spiritual exercise give 
us good spiritual appetites ? Work for the 
Lord will give us a desire for his word, and 
if we serve the Lord continually we will love 
his word heartily. To love and not to serve 
is hypocrisy; to serve and not to love is slav- 
ery. To desire the word and not serve the 
Lord may be possible; but to serve the Lord 
and not desire his word is incredible. If we 
would relish the word of the Lord we must 
engage in the work of the Lord. If we would 
get spiritual strength we must not only eat 
spiritual food, but we must do spiritual work. 

Eating and exercising go together. The 
one is dependent upon the other. Exercise 
is just as necessary to eating as air is to breath- 
ing. If we eat carefully and exercise properly 
we will live healthfully. To eat much and 
do nothing is laziness; to do much and eat 
nothing is foolishness. If we eat regularly 
and exercise properly we will get strong phys- 
ically. But what shall we say pertaining to 
spiritual eating and exercising? Shall we 
read much and do little ? Spiritually reading 



HOIV ME TRAINS 51 

and doing are just as important as eating and 
exercising. Eating furnishes the nutriment 
but exercise assimilates it; reading furnishes 
a supplement but we must make use of it. If 
we eat much food continually, it will lay heav- 
ily. Unless we exercise regularly we will feel 
miserably. 

There is no assimilating without digesting; 
there is no digesting without exercising. If 
we would assimilate, believe what we read, 
we must thoroughly digest it. If we would 
thoroughly digest it we must use it ; how can 
we use what we read unless we put it into 
practice.^' It is not only the knowing but the 
doing that makes us strong. We may know 
ever so much, but if we do ever so little, we 
will still be ever so weak. What good wall 
our knowledge do us if we do not use it.^ It 
may be a source of gratification to us but it 
will never be the means of salvation to an- 
other. 

THE RESULT OF SLOTH 

But there is danger of eating too much and 
not exercising enough. So spiritually there 
is danger of reading too much and not doing 
enough. Those who eat a great deal and do 
very little are often taken with a severe case 



52 THE SPIRITUAL ATHLETE 

of the gout. You will pardon the expression, 
but are there not a great many Christians who 
have a bad case of the spiritual gout? They 
do not do enough to digest or assimilate what 
they read. They do not even exercise enough 
to limber up their joints. How many of them 
go on crutches and how slowly they get around. 
"Elbow-grease, like every other lubricator, 
will gum if not constantly used.'' Eating so 
much and doing so little explains the weakness 
of so many of us professing Christians. 

How many of us are going about saying, 
"Oh, my weakness, my weakness!" It isn*t 
our weakness, it is our laziness. A lazy per- 
son is always weak. We find fault with every- 
thing and are not able to do anything; we 
complain much and do little. If we are to do 
something then we cannot ; even if we could we 
would not. It is not so much the "cannot" as 
the "will not." Our inability is often due to 
our inactivity. If we only did a little we 
would soon be able to do more. So long as 
we attempt nothing so long we will not be 
able to do much of anythmg. If we fully re- 
alize the consequences of doing nothing, and 
the blessing of doing something, then we 
would attempt great things. If we would do 
more we would complain less. 



HOIV HE TRAINS 



Spiritually, few of us suffer from doing too 
much; but, alas, hov/ many of us suffer from 
doing too little! If we would suffer half as 
much from doing something as we do from do- 
ing nothing, then we would soon not suffer any- 
thing. If many of us would put forth as much 
effort in serving the Lord as we do in com- 
plaining of his word, then there would soon 
be no time for complaining at all. The only 
prescription for doing nothing is to do some- 
thing. But how shall we do something when 
we do not feel able to do anything.^ Not do- 
ing anything when we can, that is indiffer- 
ence; desiring to do something when we can- 
not would at least be willingness. Of the 
former there are many; of the latter there are 
few. There wiltbe two classes at the day of 
judgment: Those who did and those who 
did not. Some will say, "Lord, I would, but 
I could not;" but the Lord will say, "Nay, 
ye could, but ye would not." Oh! may it be 
said of us as it was said of the woman who 
anointed the Saviour's feet with precious oint- 
ment, and wiped them with her hair, "She 
hath done what she could;" or as the poor 
widow who cast in her two mites, "She hath 
done more than they all." ^ 



54 THE SPIRITUAL ATHLETE 

OVERWORK 

Then there is not only danger of eating too 
much and not doing enough; but there is also 
danger of working too hard and not eating 
enough. To eat too much and not work, 
enough is either due to greediness or laziness; 
to work too much and not eat enough is either 
due to carelessness or stinginess. We ought 
not to work much without eating, any more 
than we ought to eat much without working. 
As we cannot expect to remain well long, if 
we eat too much without working,- so we can- 
not expect to hold out long, if we work too 
much without eating. 

It is the same spiritually. Often we do too 
much Christian work and do not eat enough 
spiritual food. We may do too much and not 
read enough. As it is disastrous to do too • 
much physical work without eating, so it is 
perilous to do too much spiritual work without 
reading. As it is very easy to overeat with- 
out working so it is very easy to overwork 
without eating. If we were to eat too much 
and not do anything, our physical health would 
soon be gone. If we do too much and not 
read anything our spiritual strength will soon 
be overdone. As it would be dangerous to 
do six months' work without eating, so it would 



HO IV HE TRAINS 55 

be perilous to do six months' Christian work 
without reading. 

How often have you seen persons starting 
out on a Christian Hfe and going to work as 
if they were determined to convert the world in 
six months; but in about six months their zeal 
was all gone, and it seems as if it would take 
the whole world to reconvert them. What was 
the matter.? Why, they did too much spiritual 
work, and did not eat enough spiritual food. 
No! I will not say that they did too much 
spiritual work, but I will say that they did 
not eat enough spiritual food. Perhaps they 
should not have done less, but certainly they 
should have eaten more. 

Constant working will require constant eat- 
ing; but constant eating will also require 
constant working. If we work hard and eat 
nothing we will soon be despairing; so spirit- 
ually if we work hard and read nothing our 
strength will soon be wasting. Usually the 
more we work the more we eat ; so spiritually 
the more we do the more we read. If you 
eat too much and do too little there is danger 
of indigestion; if you work too hard and eat 
too little there is danger of starvation. 



56 THE SPIRITUAL ATHLETE 

THE EXERCISE OF FAITH 

It is by exercise that we increase the strength 
that we already have. If I have strength and do 
not use it, it will not be long until I will lose it. 
The fish in the Mammoth cave have no eyes 
because there is no opportunity to use them ; 
what, then, is the advantage to have them.? 
So it is with our strength; if we do not use it 
we will not long have it. The servant that 
had one talent and hid it away, from him it was 
soon taken away. But the one that used his 
talents, to him were given still other talents. 
"For to him that hath shall be given, and 
from him that hath not shall be taken away 
even that which he hath." Not using our 
strength will be just as detrimental as abusing 
it; in both cases we are sure of losing it. 

You remember the poor woman, in the days 
of Elisha, who had debts, but nothing with 
which to pay them; and the creditors came to 
take the two sons as security ; but she cried to 
the prophet for help, and he said to her, 
"What hast thou in the house?" and she said, 
"Nothing but a pot of oil." He said: "Go to 
thy neighbors and borrow vessels, borrow not 
a few." Some of us would have said, "What 
for, Lord.? I have nothing to put into them!" 



HOIV HE TRAINS 57 

But she believed the prophet, and went and 
borrowed the vessels. When she had pro- 
cured the vessels, he said to her, "Take what 
little oil thou hast and pour it into the ves- 
sels.'^ Oh, what faith this required! — pouring 
out what little oil she had, and the only thing 
she had in the house. We would have wanted 
to save what little we had, and have the 
prophet give us more. But no! "The Lord's 
ways are not our ways.*' We must use what 
we have in order to get more. Before this 
woman received more oil she had to lose 
what she had. So she began to pour out, and 
kept pouring until the vessels were full; and 
the oil stayed. Why should it not.? The 
Lord does not waste anything. He blessed 
her just as much as she had capacity for being 
blessed. So it is with us; the Lord will only 
bless us to the extent of our capacity. He 
gives us no more strength than we can use. 
But even to get that blessing we do our part, 
we must use what we have. 

Now you remember that prophet asked her, 
"What hast thou in the house .?'* He was go- 
ing to have her use just what she had. I 
suppose if she had had flour iie would 
have had her use that; if it would have been 
wood, I presume he would have had her use 



58 THE SPIRITUAL ATHLETE 

that. He was going to have her use what she 
had; she could not use what she did not have. 
So it is with our strength; we are to use what 
we have before we can have more. If we ever 
get more strength we must use what we have. 
The Lord deals with us and our strength as 
he dealt with this woman and her oil. He 
does not squander anything. He wastes not 
strength upon us, by giving more than we can 
use to us. Why should he give us more 
strength when we do not use what we already 
have } That would be wasting it. Use what 
you have, and then you will soon have more 
to use. 

GAIN BY LOSS 

But you say, "I must save my strength; it 
will not do to use it." The way to save your 
strength is to lose it. The farmer who sows 
his seed must for a time lose it. If he did not 
sow he would not reap. The Egyptian throw- 
ing his seed upon the receding waters of the 
Nile, to one who did not know their method 
of sowing, would seem like entirely wasting 
it; but in a short time where the waters had 
been, will be seen fruitful fields and golden 
harvests as the result of it. He lost the little 
seed that he had, cheerfully, in order that he 



HOIV HE TRAINS 59 

might reap more bountifully. Would we have 
more strength then we must use the little 
strength that we now have. If this woman 
would not have used the little oil that she 
had, it would have been but a short time un- 
til she would have had none to use. But she 
used what little she had and she received all 
that she was prepared to receive. We may 
need all the strength that we have, but if we 
will use it, we will soon have all that we need. 

But you say, "I haven't any strength." I 
think you have. Paul said, "When I am weak 
then am I strong." Consciousness of weak- 
ness, often is the corner-stone of strength. 
Often when we feel the weakest then we are 
the strongest. A plea of weakness is often 
but an excuse forunwillingness. 

The Lord has given every man some spir- 
itual strength; every man has a religious nat- 
ure. The most degraded heathen have some 
religious proclivity; then are we going to say 
that we have no spiritual capacity.? We have 
had it, but may have lost it by not using it. 
There are many of us who now have no spiritual 
strength, simply because we did not use what 
we once had. "We have laboredrin vain; we 
have spent our strength for naught." But 
why do we think that we have no spiritual 



60 THE SPIRITUAL ATHLETE 

strength? If we once put to the test what 
we have, we might have more than we think. 
To think that we have no strength, often is 
simply an excuse for not using what we have. 
We might be surprised at the strength we 
really possessed when we once put it to a 
thorough test. 

FAITH UNTRAMMELED 

You remember the palsied man, do you not } 
Did he have much strength ? Why, no ! At 
least he thought he h^d not; it took four men 
to carry him about ; they brought him to the 
Lord and let him down through the roof to 
get him where the Saviour was. When the 
Lord saw him he said to him, "Take up thy 
bed and walk." The man did not say, "Why, 
Lord, how can 1} I have no strength; 1 
have not moved a muscle for a long time, and 
how do you expect me to get up and walk?'' 
But he did not talk after this fashion. When 
the Lord told him to take up his bed and walk 
he believed that he had strength; and he put 
forth one mighty effort, and got up and 
walked forth with his couch. No doubt he 
was surprised at his strength; he was not 
aware of it until he had thoroughly tested it. 
Neither can we tell how much strength we 



HOIV HE TRAINS 61 

have until we put forth an effort to use it. 
When Christ gave the command, with it he 
also gave the power to do it. But how shall 
we know of that power if we do not obey the 
command.^ If the man would not have put 
forth the effort to test his strength he no doubt 
ever after would have doubted whether he had 
any strength. He no doubt would have 
thought that it was a rash command and that 
it would have been vain to obey such a com- 
mand. 

But, my reader, how often has the Lord 
commanded us in his word to arise and we 
felt as though we had no strength and did not 
believe his word. The Lord has commanded 
but we have not obeyed, and his word 
has been doubted. How often have we 
made out the Lord as untruthful, because 
we have been so unfaithful. How often have 
we deemed the obeying of his command im- 
possible; but it is not the impossibility, nor 
inability, but our infidelity. God does not 
require of us anything impossible. It may 
seem impossible for us, but all things are pos- 
sible with God. If we are on the Lord's side 
the Lord will be on our side, and^all things 
will be possible for us. Putting our strength 
against His will not diminish His any, but it 



62 THE SPIRITUAL ATHLETE 

will hinder ours much; letting our strength 
fall right in with His will not increase His any, 
but will help ours much. This palsied man 
had not much strength, but when he threw 
what he had in with the Lord's it helped him 
to accomplish what he thought was impossi- 
ble to accomplish. There is such a thing as 
using our strength against God and losing it, 
then there is such a thing as losing our 
strength in God and saving it. 

To have no physical strength is a great mis- 
fortune; to say that we have no spiritual 
strength may be a great delusion. We might 
have physical strength if we had not abused 
what we once had. 

To have no physical strength may be caused 
by gross neglect ; to have no spiritual strength 
will be the cause of eternal regret. It is 
bad enough to be a physical invalid tempo- 
rally, but what must it be to be a spiritual 
invalid eternally.^ The former is the conse- 
quence of physical laws temporally trans- 
gressed; the second is the transgression of 
spiritual laws eternally punished. If we would 
be strong eternally then we must begin to 
grow in strength spiritually ; but spiritually 
we cannot be strong eternally, unless we use 
the spiritual strength we have temporally. If 



HOIV HE TRAINS 63 

we use the spiritual strength that we have in 
time, we will not have much weakness to re- 
gret in eternity. 

WHEN, WHERE, AND HOW? 

But zv/ien and where and how shall we use 
our strength? Use it whenever, wherever and 
however we can use it the best. 

Whenever? Now. "Say not ye there are 
still four months and then Cometh the harvest? 
Behold, I say unto you, lift up your eyes and 
look on the fields; for they are white already 
to harvest." 

Oh, that we would but see the fields of 
ripening grain, then might we also see the 
need of saving perishing men ! 

Do we know the danger of deferring the 
harvest longer? When the harvest is ripe, 
then it is time for reaping it; if we do not we 
may be sure of losing it. When the grain is 
ripe and we do not reap it, then the wind will 
blow and soon shatter it. We are deferring 
the harvest at a great cost, and if we do not 
reap it, it will be lost. As wheat may get too 
ripe for reaping so may men be left until they 
are past saving. Our procrastination may be 
the cause of their eternal condemnation. 
There is an opportune time in the life of every 



64 THE SPIRITUAL ATHLETE 

man when he might be garnered into the 
kingdom of heaven; if he is not, it may be a 
wrong which we have committed, that may 
never be forgiven; drifting over that time he 
is invariably lost, and if he is my brother, who 
is to blame the most ? There are times when 
men are convicted, when by a little effort on 
our part, they might be converted; but let 
them drift past conviction, there would be but 
little hope of their conversion. There are 
many souls that might be saved to-day, which 
may be lost to-morrow. The field that ought 
to be reaped to-day, may have to be gleaned 
to-morrow. The sheaf that is too ripe for 
reaping, is like the soul that has been neglect- 
ed too long for saving. Yes, my brother, 
lift up your eyes and see the fields already 
white for the harvest. Will you say, "No; it 
is four months yet, then is the harvest?" Till 
then many precious sheaves may be scattered 
and lost. There are many that might be 
saved, shall we put forth the effort to save 
them.? If we do not we must glean what we 
can after Satan has ruined them. Oh, let us 
put forth our sickles to reap the precious 
grain; let us put forth our strength to save 
perishing men. If we are to save them we 
must at once garner them ; if we do not at 



HO^V HE TRAINS 65 



once garner them we will soon lose them. It 
is far better to save them, at almost any cost, 
than to neglect them and have them lost. 
"And he that reapeth receiveth wages and 
gathereth fruit to life eternal/' "They that be 
wise shall shine as the firmament, and they 
that turn many to righteousness as the stars 
forever and ever." "Let him know that he 
who converteth a sinner from the error of his 
way, shall save a soul from death and hide a 
multitude of sins." Shall not this lead every 
one of us to immediate action.? What then 
shall constrain us.^ If the hope of eternal re- 
muneration for ourselves will not, then will 
the damnation of others.^ If the eternal joy 
of a soul saved v^ill not do it, then neither 
will the awful condition of a soul lost do it. 
If the field of golden grain will not invite us 
to its reaping, much less will the awful con- 
dition of a shattered harvest incite us to its 
gleaning. If we care not whether we our- 
selves are crowned, we care little if another 
is damned. If we care not for the glorious 
reward of ourselves, neither will we care for 
the terrible punishment of another. But shall 
not the blessedness of another soul saved, and 
the double blessedness of our own crown, 
move us to immediate action? 



66 THE SPIRITUAL ATHLETE 

WHERE SHALL WE USE OUR STRENGTH? 

Then where shall we use it? Wherever we 
can; and we can wherever we are. Few are 
ever placed under circumstances where there 
are no opportunities for doing good. All of us 
could do some good if we were only con- 
strained so that we would. To be where you 
can see no need of doing good must certainly 
be spiritual blindness; not to hear the call 
where you can do good must certainly be spir- 
itual deafness. "No one is so blind as the man 
that will not see; no one so deaf as the man 
who will not hear." To be where you see the 
need of doing good and then not doing it, 
must be cold indifference; to hear the call and 
then not respond to it must be hard-hearted- 
ness. He that does the best he can in the 
place where he is, will soon have a better' 
place than where he is. He who is bent on 
doing good will go where he can do the most 
good. If we all did the best we could we 
might then defy Satan to do what he would; 
if we did our best we might then defy him to 
do his worst. But so long as we are indiffer- 
ent, so long he will not be recreant; while we 
are doubting he is recruiting. Oh, that every 
one only used his strength as best he 
knew, we would not need to fear Satan for 



HOIV HE TRAINS 67 

the worst he could do. There are many of 
us who may not take a stand for lack of 
boldness; but there are far more who will not 
do it because of their spiritual coldness. 

SPIRITUAL EXERCISES 

Now there is a spiritual exercise in which 
everyone may engage. It will strengthen 
those who partake in it. It is witnessing for 
Christ wherever you are. Everyone has this 
talent, for we are using it every day for some- 
one. "Whose witnesses are ye.?" We say we 
cannot witness; and yet we do. We are tes- 
tifying for someone or for something, by word 
or deed; by life and action; by our look and 
conversation. Now those of us who have con- 
fessed Christ, "Shall we not also so walk, even 
as he walked?" If we possess him shall we not 
also confess him? If we have accepted him 
shall we not also witness for him ? To confess 
him and not possess him would be hypocrisy; 
to possess him and not confess him would be 
almost an impossibility. 

Christ said to his disciples, "Ye shall be wit- 
nesses unto me;" but where? "First in Jeru- 
salem, then in Judea and Samaria:,^nd then 
to the uttermost parts of the earth." First 
they were to be witnesses in Jerusalem, this 



THE SPIRITUAL ATHLETE 



is where they were ; then in all Judea, which 
was all around them; then in Samaria, which 
was next available for them. And then? "To 
the uttermost parts of the earth/' What an 
example of usefulness ! If we do the best we 
can where we are, then there will soon be 
larger circles of usefulness for us. If we are 
faithful in Jerusalem we will soon have oppor- 
tunity to go into all Judea; and when we have 
done what we can there then we can have 
Samaria; when we have done our best in 
Samaria then we can have the uttermost parts 
of the earth. 

But what may we learn? If we do not do 
our best in Jerusalem, we will not have an 
opportunity to do anything in Judea; if we 
do not do our best in Judea we can never do 
much in Samaria. If we have witnessed in 
Jerusalem and Judea and Samaria, then will 
we be able to go as witnesses to the uttermost 
parts of the earth. Often we hear men talk 
about going as missionaries to foreign fields; 
what have they ever done in their own fields? 
How can we expect them to do much abroad 
when they have never done much at home? 
Why do they talk about saving souls in China, 
in Japan, in India and Africa, when they have 
never said a word to those whose souls are 



HOIV HE TRAINS 69 

perishing at their next door? Why do they 
talk of saving the Chinaman in a foreign field 
when they have never said a word to the 
Chinaman in their home field? The disciples 
were not to witness in Judea until they had 
witnessed in Jerusalem. The Lord has never 
called persons to a foreign land until they 
have done the best they could in their own' 
land. Missionary boards may have sent them, 
but did the Lord call them? The Lord calls 
the man who does the best he can. We do 
not know who will do much; then shall we 
send him forth who has done nothing? The 
Lord sometimes chooses men from what He 
knows they will do, but we must choose them 
from what they have done; because we can- 
not know what they will do. But this we 
know, that if they have done much in Jerusa- 
lem, then they will also do something in 
Judea; if they have done what they could 
where they were, then we well may rest as- 
sured that they will do something wherever 
they are. There are men who have done lit- 
tle abroad who did much at home; but there 
are few who have done much abroad who 
have done little at home. Shall v(e give to 
the man ten talents who did not use the one? 
The Lord would not do it. It would not be 



70 THE SPIRITUAL ATHLETE 

economy. If we do the best we can in our own 
sphere we will soon have a larger sphere. "For 
he that is faithful over a few things I will 
make him ruler over many things.'' But you 
say, Where is my place of work; where am I 
to use my strength.^ Well, organized effort 
is always the best, and if we can throw our 
strength in with such an effort it will tell the 
most. In this day of Christian organization 
there certainly should be no lack of place for 
such effort. The church with her division of 
labor will furnish opportunity for all who wish 
to work in the service of the Lord. The 
Young People's Society of Christian Endeav- 
or; the Sunday schools; the Young Men's 
Christian Associations, will surely furnish us 
all the work that we might desire to do. 
There is a place for everyone, and everyone 
ought to be in his place. If we do not seek 
after it, then it is very evident that we are not 
very anxious for it; if we really desire a place 
we will find it, but if we would find it we must 
also work for it. To desire a place and not 
seek it would be insincerity; to find it and 
then not fill it would belie our integrity. 
Whenever the church is not large enough for 
our field of labor, then the Lord will send us 
to labor in a larger field. Let us find our 



HOIV HE TRAINS 71 

place and fill it, then we will soon have a 
larger place to fill. ^*Let us not be a square 
peg in a round hole.*' Let us fit into some 
place where we can do much good, then the 
place will soon fit us where we can do more 
good. There are many places that need us. 
The church needs us, the world needs us. 
Let us do all we can in our church, then we can 
do more in the world. What the world needs 
at this present time is not men to fill the best 
places, but men who will fill their places 
best. We do not need more men so much as 
we need some who are more men. There 
may be men plenty enough, but what we 
want are men that are good enough. There 
are men of many^ kinds, but what we need 
are more men of a better kind. Gideon's 
army increased was not worth as much as 
Gideon's army diminished. We do not need 
better places for men, but we need better 
men for places. 

STRENGTH FOR PERSONAL WORK 

Then kow shall we do it.^ By personal 
work; by every person working with one 
other person. "Hand-picked fruit is\the best." 
The farmer who gathers his apples that he 
may keep them over winter does not club the 



72 THE SPIRITUAL ATHLETE 

tree or shake the Hmbs so that they fall to 
the ground, but he climbs the tree and picks 
them one by one, carefully handling them so 
that they shall not be bruised. Oh, that we 
might so save souls, one at a time, and caring 
for them so that they might be carefully kept 
for eternity! 

Personal work is not the most efficient way 
to strengthen ourselves only, but it is the most 
efficient way to redeem others also. It is not 
only the best kind of a gymnasium for our- 
selves, but it is also the best means of salva- 
tion for others. There is nothing that so 
strengthens us as when we put forth our 
strength to save others. But which is the 
more important, to strengthen ourselves or 
save others.? What is the difference, when in 
doing the latter we do the former.? If in sav- 
ing others we strengthen ourselves, then it is 
more important to save others. If, then, 
personal work is the method that will be 
doubly beneficial, why not use it } If it is the 
most effective, why not adopt it.? Satan un- 
derstands this method and he uses it to good 
advantage. He sees no advantage in using 
another method. His work is hand-to-hand 
work. Personal influence, personal effort, is 
what he uses. Our young men that are going 



HOIV HE TRAWS 73 

into the paths of woe, have they been led 
astray in mass meetings held by the servants 
of Satan? No. He never holds any such 
meetings. Have any of our young men ever 
been persuaded by a strong appeal of one of 
Satan's servants to take sides with them? No! 
He makes no such appeals. They have been 
led astray by the hand, and through the per- 
sonal influence of one of the servants of Satan. 
Some one person associating v/ith some other 
person has led him astray. Though it may 
have been done unintentionally, yet it has 
been done most effectively. Satan does not 
ruin many at a time; he does it one at a time. 
His efforts are personal, but they are effectual. 
Have you ever known Satan to have large 
meetings and then enlisting men in his service 
by eloquently telling them the fruits of his 
service? No! But what does he do? He says 
to this servant of his, *'Go influence that 
man;" he says to that one, "Go make him 
your associate until you have ruined him." 
Thus every servant of Satan is at work per- 
sonally to ruin some other person. This is 
his method. It is the best method. It is not 
the best method because it is his method, but 
it is his method because it is the best method. 
It seems as if the best method has been put 



74 THE SPIRITUAL ATHLETE 

to the worst use, but have we not been trying 
to put the poorest method to the best use? 
Can it be true that "the children of this world 
are wiser in their generation than the children 
of light ?^' Can it be true that Satan is using 
a method successfully to ruin men, while we 
are adopting it reluctantly to save them? 

THE SERVICE OF SATAN 

But why is it that the servants of Satan 
serve him so faithfully ? Because he gives them 
something to do personally. He is binding 
them to him by binding them to someone else. 
The more they serve him the more they are 
bound to him. But what shall be the hope 
of getting servants for the Lord? By con- 
stantly having men serve the Lord. They 
who constantly serve Satan will sooner or 
later be enslaved by Satan, but those who 
constantly serve the Lord will sooner or later 
be strong in the Lord. The more we serve 
the Lord the better we will love the Lord. 
The service of Satan, though at first it may be 
joy, in the end will be slavery; but the serv- 
ice of the Lord, though at first it may seem 
like slavery, yet in the end it will be joy. 
Some think that the service that we give to 
the Lord is spent for naught ; then the serv- 



HOH^ HE TRAINS 75 

ice that we give to Satan is spent for far 
worse than naught. Though the former to 
some may not be a plus quantity, the latter 
to all must be a minus quantity. "The path 
of the just is as a shining light which shin- 
eth brighter and brighter unto the perfect 
day.'' But how shall it be with the wicked.? 
"Wherefore their way shall be unto them as 
slippery ways in darkness. They shall be 
driven on and fall therein." 

THE SERVICE OF THE WORLD 

But personal work is also the method of 
business. How do men sell their goods.? Do 
they wait until they have a sufficient audience 
so that they can sell to them at auction.? No! 
They sell to them one at a time; and the fewer 
people around the more liable they are to sell 
their goods. Men sell at auction when they 
expect to go out of business. Are we as stew- 
ards of the Lord's work thinking of going out 
of business? No! Then we had better adopt 
that method which will insure us more success 
in that business. If we do not make a bus- 
iness of our religion we will not long have a 
religion to make a business of. Why should 
men's business be conducted on more success- 
ful principles than the Lord's business.? If 



76 THE SPIRITUAL ATHLETE 

men succeed better in their business by per- 
sonal work, why then should we hesitate to 
do the Lord's business by personal work? 

TUE lord's method 

Was not the method of the Lord that of 
personal work ? While He spoke to multi- 
tudes He dealt with the individual; while 
He went about doing good all the time, 
He did it principally to one at a time. 
His life-work was personal work. He did 
not heal many at a time but He healed 
one at a time. He did not say to the blind 
man, who cried, "Lord, have mercy on me," 
"Come up to Jerusalem where I am waiting for 
a sufficient number to justify my healing, and 
just as soon as there is a sufficient number I 
will heal you." He had no such method. He 
said no such a thing; He healed him right then 
and there. Think of Him dealing with the 
woman at the well to have her accept eternal 
life. Did He tell her that He was pastor of a 
church in the city and that He hoped she 
would attend His church and be converted.!^ 
No! He did all he could to have her con- 
verted right then and there. 

THE disciples' WORK 

The disciples of the Lord did most of their 



HOJV HE TRAINS 



work by personal work. Though they were 
sent out two by two, they dealt with persons 
one by one. When Andrew found the Lord 
he went straightway and brought Simon his 
brother to Him. If we go after men in person 
we will be more likely to get the person we 
go after. It is more important to have one 
man start out and hold out than to have a 
hundred start out and then give out. We 
might persuade multitudes and have them con- 
fess Christ; but it is better to have one man 
and not let him go until he possess Christ. 
To take one person and develop him, that is 
commendable; but to undertake one hundred 
men and then let go of them, that is lament- 
able. 

Look at Philip: He was down there at 
Samaria preaching Christ to the people, and 
many were saved; but right in the midst of 
this great work, the angel of the Lord spake 
unto him saying, "Arise, go toward the south, 
unto the way that goeth down from Jerusalem 
unto Gaza, which is desert.''^ Here is a serv- 
ant of the Lord preaching Christ unto many 
who were giving heed to his words, but right 
there in the midst of it there comesxthe com- 
mand, "Philip, arise and go down toward 
Gaza, which is desert." Why, what did he 



78 THE SPIRITUAL ATHLETE 

want Philip to go down in the desert for ? Who 
was down there to convert? PhiHp might 
have said, "I cannot go down there into the 
desert because it is beneath my dignity;" but 
PhiHp thought less of his dignity than he did 
of his duty. He might have thought, Am I 
not doing a great work here and why should I 
go down there?" I presume he was saving ten 
souls in Samaria for one that he would save 
in the desert. Most of us would have said, " I 
do not believe that I am called to go down 
there in the desert to preach while I am doing 
so great a work here in Samaria; I must have 
mistaken the call." Philip did not talk thus; 
but what did he do? Why^ he arose and 
went! 

But as he was going down through the des- 
ert toward Gaza, what happened? "Behold 
a man of Ethiopia, a eunuch of great author- 
ity under Candace, queen of the Ethiopians, 
who had the charge of all her treasure, was 
returning; and sitting in his chariot read 
Isaiah the prophet." Ah! Can we not now 
see why the Lord commanded Philip to go 
down into the desert? There was a rare fish 
to be caught indeed — a prince to be con- 
verted. 



HOIV HE TRAWS 79 

THE WORTH OF A SOUL 

But why was it so important to save a 
prince? Was his soul worth more than any 
other man's soul? No! His soul was not 
worth more, but the saving of it might 
amount to more. In the lives of some, there 
are wrapt up far greater possibilities than in 
other lives. The conversion of this prince 
might have been worth more in possibilities 
than the conversion of all Samaria. Think of 
the influence he would have over his people ! It 
is often more probable for a prince to convert 
his whole kingdom than for a whole kingdom 
to convert its prince. May not the conversion 
of this prince mean the Christianizing of an- 
other kingdom? The Lord, who sees the end 
from the beginning, saw great possibilities in 
the conversion of this man, so He had Philip 
leave his great work and go down there into 
the desert and convert him. 

Notice the fortunate concurrence of events: 
The Lord knew that this prince was to go 
along about such a time, and so He had Philip 
to be there at that time. What would have 
been the result if Philip would have been ten 
minutes late ? Why, he would haVe missed 
the eunuch, and his journey would have been 
for naught. Then Philip might have blamed 



THE SPIRITUAL ATHLETE 



the Lord for having made a mistake in calling 
him down there. Nevertheless the Lord would 
have been blameless, but Philip would have 
been without excuse; for the Lord knew the 
eunuch's time in passing, but Philip would 
have missed it on account of his tardiness in 
going; but Philip obeyed, and he arrived in 
time to see the eunuch pass by. 

THE PROMPTING OF THE SPIRIT 

I imagine, as Philip saw the prince passing 
by, he said to himself, "Ah! I see now why 
the Lord wanted me down here in the desert ! 
There is a prince to be converted;" and while 
he was thus thinking the spirit said, "Philip, 
go near and join thyself to this chariot.'' Did 
Philip mistake the promptings of the spirit ? 
No ! He ran thither to him. He did not be- 
gin to say to himself, "Oh, it is not worth 
while to speak to that man; why, he is a 
prince, riding along in a fine chariot, and I 
am walking through the desert; he will not 
listen to me; I might insult him if I speak to 
him; it is a great offense to speak to a 
prince without being requested.'' He did not 
do this. When the spirit prompted him he 
did not walk slowly, hoping that the prince 
would pass so that he would have an excuse 



HOJV HE TRAINS 81 

for not talking to him; but when the spirit 
prompted him he ran thither to him. And 
as he came near he saw that he was reading 
Isaiah the prophet : and PhiHp said to him, 
"Understandest thou what thou readest ?" 

Think of that ! A man down there in the 
desert, without any ceremony running up to 
a man and getting into his chariot and asking 
him whether he knew what he was reading 
about. But ah! PhiHp was constrained; he 
thought not of the intrusion to the man, but 
all about the conversion of the man. He would 
rather make a mistake in an effort to save 
him than to have him lost without any effort 
to save him. He forgot the danger in his 
great earnestness to save the man. So he 
just ran thither and joined himself to this 
chariot, knowing that if the Lord commanded 
it, that he also had arranged for it. 

But, my brother, how often has the spirit 
said to you as you were walking along the 
streets, "There goes one to whom you ought 
to speak in regard to his eternal welfare;" 
but instead of running to him and opening the 
subject, you have walked slower, hoping that 
he might have passed before yoTi got near 
him; so that you might have an excuse for 
not speaking to him. Oh, how often have we 



THE SPIRITUAL ATHLETE 



neglected the promptings of the spirit ! Have 
we not had as distinct a command to speak to 
our comrades, as Philip had to speak to this 
Ethiopian? Yes! But we did not know it. 
But Philip obeyed and was strengthened; we 
disobeyed and were weakened. 

When Philip asked the eunuch whether he 
understood what he was reading, what did 
the eunuch say? Did he become angry be- 
cause of the intrusion? No! He afterward 
rejoiced in his conversion. The Lord evi- 
dently had opened the way for Philip, and 
nothing could delay or hinder him. He must 
have touched the eunuch's heart or Philip 
never would have found the way to it. 

AN OPPORTUNITY SEIZED 

When Philip asked him the question, "Un- 
derstandest thou what tho^u readest?" he said, 
"How can I understand unless someone 
guide me?" Then Philip opened his mouth 
and ^^ preached tiitto him Jesus^ Yes, not 
some theory of his own; not some historical 
research of prophecy; not some philosophical 
interpretation of theology; but he preached 
unto hun Jesus, What would have been the 
result if he had begun to talk to him about the 
condition of politics or the signs of the times? 



HOIV HE TRAINS 83 

He never would have been converted. Philip 
might have conversed w^ith him about the 
affairs in his dominions. But no! He v^as 
too much concerned about his salvation. 
Philip knew that this was his opportunity, 
and that this was why the Lord had sent him 
into the desert ; and he did not like to return 
until he saw the prince converted. 

Do you not think that Philip was strength- 
ened after he was thus tried.? Do you think 
that he ever would have doubted, after he was 
thus tested.? The reason many of us are not 
stronger in the Lord is because we do not 
obey the voice of the Lord. If Philip had 
not obeyed, the eunuch would have remained 
unconverted; and in Philip's mind, God would 
not have been vindicated. Through the obe- 
dience of Philip the prince was converted. He 
came reading about Christ; he went rejoicing 
in Christ. If we want to do great things we 
must begin by doing little things. If we want 
to save multitudes then v/e must begin by 
saving individuals. We will never save many 
at a time until we begin saving one at a time. 
The best way to learn to do public work is to 
begin doing personal work. It might be better 
to preach in the desert to one than to preach 
in Samaria to many. It is often not as well 



84 THE SPIRITUAL ATHLETE 

to do a little good to many at a time, as it is 
to do much good to one at a time. 

STRENGTH FOR ALL 

And now we may have strength if we desire 
it. It will, however, take proper reading 
and constant doing to acquire it. Shall we be 
excused whose strength has been abused? 
No! We shall be wanting whose spiritual 
strength has been failing. In the day of 
judgment many of us will say that we could 
not withstand the evil because of our weak- 
ness. Nay! We had better say that we 
would not on account of our laziness. He 
who hath strength and uses it not, will want 
to use it in a day when he hath it not. Our 
spiritual inability is more often occasioned by 
our negligence than by God's providence. 
Our carelessness is the cause often of our 
spiritual weakness. If God would have given 
us our spirits without anything to feed them, 
then we might be acquitted, but when we 
might sit down to a feast at his word and will 
not, it is to be very much regretted. "Verily, 
verily, none of these shall eat of my supper. *' 
If we will not accept an invitation to his feast 
on earth, shall we then sit down to his feast 
in heaven.'^ If we neglect the spiritual food 



* 



HOIV HE TRAINS 85 

here we will not taste of the heavenly food 
there. What we will enjoy in heaven will 
depend much upon what we have enjoyed on 
earth. Spiritually there is no such a thing 
as being a pauper here and a prince in heav- 
en. We who have starved our souls here, 
how can we expect to be filled there.'^ We 
who have eaten the meat of Satan's providing, 
must eternally eat the crumbs of our own de- 
serving. We who have sipped the cup of our 
own liking, must finally drink the dregs of 
our own choosing. 

If our Father had not set before us some- 
thing better, then He might be blamable, but 
as long as we shall not want, so long we are 
inexcusable. He shall supply all our needs; 
why then should we want.? Because we often 
want what we do not need. 

GROWTH IN SERVICE 

It is by reading that we know, but it is by 
doing that we grow. It were better to know 
little and do much, than to know much and do 
little. Our judgment will not be on the ground 
of knowing but on the ground of doing; not 
from the strength that we have had, b^t from 
what we have used. The final test will not 
be what have you known, but what have you 



86 THE SPIRITUAL ATHLETE 

done. It will not be, "as much as ye have 
known," but, "as often as ye have done." 
Most of us know better than we do, but how 
few of us do better than we know. The man 
who does better than he knows will fare bet- 
ter than the man who knows better than he 
does. "He that knoweth to do good and 
doeth it not to him it is sin." The awful 
judgment will not be on the ground of not 
knowing but on the ground of not doing. It 
is said of our Master that "He began to do and 
to teach." Alas! How many of us are trying 
to teach and not to do. We would not have 
men know less, but, oh ! if they only did more ! 
To have two talents and use them is better 
than to have ten talents and lose them. If 
the man who had one talent, and did not use 
it, was called unprofitable, then we who have 
ten talents and have not used them must 
certainly be unpardonable. It is well enough 
to know but it is far better to do. "For it is 
written : If ye know these things, happy are 
ye if ye do them." 



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